Those Times, Now Gone, When MCP Was The Malawi Government

But the cock, though still active at dawn,has now been decapacitated. It is a circle that will, as circles do, repeat itself. But people do not learn, it seems, and continue to make similar mistakes- believing that their day, and only their day, will last.

Malawian Music Awards A Fluke

Just like that.
Starting with organisation; poor.
It seems like the organisers just wanted to use the event as a money spinner, and failed at that.
Next time you are organising the awards, make it a bridal shower activity in one of your many friends' vegetable gardens!
Don't use the name Malawi in vain; it is such an honourable name.
If anything, the Malawian Music Awards have just shown that there are many useless things people can do in Malawi, one of which is to attend such a poorly organised event.
Imagine, the organisers got K33,000 for their vanity-attempt!
Actually, one of the people manning the door was heard saying: "Apa ndiye tagwa nayotu; tidyapo apa?"

Malawi Braces for Black-Outs Till December

The outlook on life is already 'dark' in Malawi; the spirits very low.
It has been a long time since problems moved in 'groups' of one; collectivity is their new name.
Packed like sardines in the Malawi-Problems-Catalogue are:
Fuel shortages.
Forex crises.
Human rights imprisonment.
Poverty escalation.
Political impasses.
Off target International Monetary Fund programmes.
Negative outlooks and sentiments from the Common Approach to Budgetary Support group of development partners.
Uncertainty over the chances of getting K21 billion donor aid and grants.
I all fairness, these solo players in the catalogue were supposed to be 'enough' for the single, warm heart that is the Malawian.
Not at all.
Adding on to this pile of problems is this week's announcement by the country's generator and distributor of electric energy.
Malawi's sole electricity supplier- the Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi- Escom, announced yesterday that Malawi was going into a period of fully-fledged black outs as works on Nkula Falls and Tedzani commence.
Escom's Director of Generation, Darper Chapalapata, said yesterday there would be six hours of black outs everyday starting from Wednesday (yesterday).
In line with his words, blackouts started yesterday.
Chapalapata said the six-hour black outs will take place from 04:00p.m. to 10:00 p.m. everyday.
"This will happen until December 31, 2011. We want everything to be okay by that date, and expect no further interruptions to electricity supply during the rainy season," said Chapalapata.
The spirits, already down by the myriad of challenges outlined above, cannot get any lower.
This is the first time in Malawi's power generation history to have six-hour black outs running over a period of six whopping months.
Already, people are complaining that they will be missing Big Brother Amplified Live Eviction shows since they take place from 07:00 p.m.. This is despite the fact that most Digital Satellite Television payers have footed their bills with Multi-Choice Malawi hoping that they would have full-time entertainment.
Lomwe is still in the Big Brother Amplified House as Malawi's remaining representative. The other country representative, Felicia Susan Ngoma, was evicted on Sunday and arrives home today.
The other casualty is President Bingu wa Mutharika himself, since most citizens will now miss his speeches traditionally rebroadcast in the 'Presidential Daily' programme broadcast in the evening.
Malawi Broadcasting Viewers will also miss MBC News at 8 (live). THis means that MBC-TV should reduce the amount of money before news/mid news/after news advertisers pay for slots from between K48, 000 to K52, 000 now, to less than K40,000 since- during the entire period of the blackouts- most viewers (except those with generators) will be watching the live news programmes.
Video and live television showrooms will also be hit by the eletricity black outs' problem; so will bar owners with no generators.
It seems that Escom has opted for the 04:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. duration to shelve heavy industries from making equally heavy losses, a move likely to be lauded by the Malawi Confederation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
However, industries that employ people on night shifts have to face up to the reality that, if they run no generators, their production will stall from 06:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day, giving foreign competitors an edge over them, and threatening Malawi's export capacity since production targets are likely to be missed, more than met.
More likely, people will be blaming the ruling Democratic Progressive Party for this, and Mutharika for many other things.
The truth is that Malawi's electricity generation system needs an overhaul.
Finance Minister Ken Kandodo knows this pretty well, and announced during this year's Budget Statement that a World Bank project worth US$500 million will help solve the country's problems.
The black outs are coming in because, during the next six months of maintenance works at Malawi's hydro-electric power stations in the Lower Shire, generation capacity will be reduced by 40 per cent.
Already, the country faces high demand for electric power, and has so far failed to meet the same.
It is hoped, however, that with Malawi Growth and Development Strategy pinning its focus on improved energy delivery, the span for blackouts may well be short.
What with Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority's liberalisation of the energy sector?
Just that, for a long tme to come, Escom will remain a key player in the electricity generation sector- it's strong feet being the investments in power generation machines in the Lower Shire.
And its long time experience in dispersing both darkness and light.

www.zachimalawi.webs.com

www.zachimalawi.webs.com

Coming to Malawi?

Bring diesel and petrol in containers with you.

Otherwise, you will get stuck at the airport.

No fuel here.

It is Malawi's most visible crisis.

More visible than the forex shortage problem because the rural woman and man does not care about forex.

A Dedication to O'brien Nazombe: Multi-Talented

Talented people never 'pass away', they 'pass on'.
On Monday this week, Malawi lost one of her most talented sons.
A poet of sorts, promoter of local music, and playwright of repute, O'brien Nazombe triumphed over everything he touched, and only lost to the touch of meningitis during the morning of Monday morning this week.
Meningitis, and, therefore, death, has claimed the mighty, gentle heart of Nazombe because they (meningitis and, therefore, death) never got to be touched by his skillful hands; indeed, they got no chance to be surfed by his productive brains.
If they did, they would have appreciated the gem of his mind and left him to us: our hearts to touch with his fingerless-but-sensual poetry; our memories to scratch through his impeccable selection of vernacular words, and; our appreciation to spur by his careful selection of modern Malawi music.
And, if meningitis and death this truth beheld, they would have left O'brien to us, to be with him past the 40 years that have become the boundary between O'brien Nazombe and us.
But, as reality has it, we stand and sit here- on this portion of the globe named Malawi- thinking about the great man we have lost, and the gap his departure has created in our minds and hearts.
O'brien Nazombe lives no more.
But he has not 'passed away'; he has 'passed on'.
The faithless pass away. The hopeful pass on.
O'brien Nazombe was hopeful because he was religious.
And, therefore, he has passed on.
To wait for us on the other side of the veil.
To give us hope that, where we go from here, is a place of gems and talented people. The people who, on this earth trod, and left a mark.
This mark, or these marks, keep us going, trying to cover part of the shoes that will never be filled because those who paid tenancy to them had bigger toes than us.
These 'toes' are the contributions they made to the world; the selfless heart they possessed, the things they knew and, with us, shared; the love they never withheld from those who knew them, and those who knew them not.
The 'toes' are their indispensable skills; their immense knowledge; their willingness to learn by, first, hearing, then, listening, and, lastly, contributing towards which ever topic it was.
O'brien Nazombe was a great listener.
And an actionman there-after.
Hearing. Listening. Acting.
Empathy was his greatest tool in life.
He acted, always- but only after listening and getting the other side of the story. It could not be always a story; even an issue. O'brien was there to listen.
Here, the man we are gathered here for; the man who has invited us to this dusty downship of Machinjiri; the man who does not 'want' to look us in the eye,as if we never knew each other, as if we never knew his voice, as if we may not recognise his voice in the confusion of a thunderous day or night, lies O'brien Nazombe.
The man who was, and is not.
The man who will not be Malawian. Anymore.
He may be dead, a reality that may force some of us to think of O'brien Nazombe in the past tense, to think of him as if he were a past that we can scrape away,at will; but he is part of the future, our future, now.
From today we will hope, and wish, and crave to be with him some day.
To see his body in glory-splendour once again.
The path he has taken is a common path; the way of all the earth.
A path we all shall take one day.
Others will take it (the path) as 'pass-aways'; lucky are those, like O'brien Nazombe, who become 'pass-oners'.
Knowing O'brien Nazombe
I was young then, in the mid 1990s, when the likes of Billy Banda- now Executive Director for the Malawi Human Rights Watch- and O'brien Nazombe were acting in that great Malawi Broadcasting Corporation play 'Timkanena', literally translated as 'We told you so'.
In it, loads of advice were churned out to the ears that cared to listen, learn, and act positively. The main message was about youths and HIV and AIDS.
O'brien Nazombe was part of this great play. At a time HIV and AIDS were wrecking havoc in Malawi, when ARVs were being sold at exorbitant prices (in fact, it is President Bingu wa Mutharika who is responsible for this sickness, forgetting faster than the human memory's capacity, that Malawians have forgotten how expensive the life-prolonging drugs were before 2004), and HIV and AIDS were terms that induced the worst fears in Malawians, O'brien's role in arresting the spread of the virus can not be overlooked.
Of course, he and Billy Banda, Milton Thole- and many others in that inspirational play- were paid for doing this; but they did it with passion, and love, and lots of skill.
Because they loved us even more; us who, today, cry on top of this mountain called present-day life, they became advocates of positive behaviour.
Oh, O'brien!
The O'brien, our own Nazombe, born on 3 February- like me- but in 1971; a decade before I was to be.
Forty years?
You were young.
But inspirational.
In 40 years, you did what ten individuals may achieve with difficulty in 40 years.
And you have passed on, knowing, that you fought a good battle- the battle for self-awareness. The battle for social and economic, even intellectual, change.
And today you have closed your eyes. On us.
And turned your back, on us.
Because we will miss you even more.
How do I know O'brien Nazombe, as the sub-heading proclaims?
Well, I knew O'brien before he knew me.
Through his voice. Inspirational in plays, poetry, and radio presentation.
And through his hands, the works of his hands- as a playwright, his name formed part of the credits in such plays as 'Mzeru N'kupangwa' radio play on Malawi Broadcasting Corporation- that great radio station with all these kids: Joy FM, FM 101 Power, Zodiak Broadcasting Station, Radio Maria, Calvary Family Radio, Dzimwe Community Radio Station, Transworld Radio, ABC Radio, Radio Alinafe, Nkhotakota Community Radio Station, MIJ FM, Capital 102.5 FM, among others.
But it was on 15 March 2011 that I fixed that voice onto a human frame, even the personality of O'brien Nazombe the Great himself.
I was sitting at the lounge of Joy 89.6 FM- the radio station he has been working, first on part-time basis in 2004, and as a full-time presenter in October 2008- when O'brien Nazombe came, and sat close to me.
Without being prompted, he looked at me, and greeted me.
One of the members of staff at Joy 89.6 FM then mentioned my name, and tried to explain what I did. But O'brien cut him short, saying he knew me- not by frame of body, but by frame of mind- through By-lines in local newspapers.
Like me, who knew him by voice and not physical frame, he knew me by frame of mind, and by the abstract hand that talks of tangible things without being there.
That is the meaning of newspaper, magazine, newsletter writing and radio broadcasting: being there, without being present. In other words, the chance to be there without being seen, the opportunity to be, without.
It is a philosophy so simple to understand; and, at the same time, so complex to behold. The good thing is that it is all possible.
Now, on the Joy 89.6 FM lounge, we talked about many things: poetry, playwriting.
I told him I had a collection of 20 Chichewa poems, and 20 English poems. The collections are kept at home, in raw form.
He told me to bring him some, to recite them and give him some.
He promised to 'judge' them for me; to gauge their strengths and weaknesses.
To polish them up with the brush of his mind.
Gone
Today, June 28, 2011, O'brien Nazombe is being raid to rest in Machinjiri Township, Blantyre.
Today, a chapter is closing on one of Malawi's most talented sons.
Today, O'brien is bidding the Joy 89.6 FM studios bye.
But he will live on, in our minds.
He will propel our hopes, that with him we shall meet.
A thousand years from now.
And our wishes, that there is a talented world beyond the blueless sky.
A wonderful world beyond the colour of our fantancies.
Somewhere beyond the blueless sky.
The colourless sky.
Many people have spoken. My friend Blessings Cheleuka, one of the people who worked closely with O'brien, and learned a lot from him, his selfless heart, has heaped praises on the man who deserve them. These are not plastic praises; they come from the heart that appreciates the greatness of this man who is making us cry, and at the same time celebrate: O'brien Nazombe, the father of two, survived by a wife Eliza.
Even Henry Haukeya, he who knows better about this great son from the Warm Heart of Africa- Malawi, has professed that, in O'brien Nazombe, Malawi had a man so full of talent and others.
That is why he shared what he knew. Because he loved all of us.
Evelyn Pangani, one of the presenters at Joy 89.6 FM, even dedicated a poem to O'brien Nazombe on the 'People's Radio Station', as Joy self-proclaims.
If this proclamation be not true, at least the truth be, that O'brien Nazombe was a man of the people.
That is why the listener liked 'Patsinde' his brain-child programme in which local poets flourished. He was also presenting a Rhumba Music programme; a local music programme that unearthed hundreds, too.
Other programmes, such as 'Gospel Top 20', he gave to others: the likes of Cheleuka.
He was selfless.
As one of the leaders at the Poetry Association of Malawi, he was also instrumental in raising the status of poetry in Malawi.
As if to keep up with the local poetry spirit, his main foods were local: nkhwani otendera (pumpkin leaves spiced up with ground-and-cooked (ground) nuts.
He loved sweet beer (thobwa), too.
During Chichewa poetry recitals at the WareHouse in Blantyre, he never forgot to bring roast maize and sweet beer for free distribution.
Sharing, and always sharing. That was O'brien Nazombe for you, the son born to a Ngoni woman from Ntcheu, and Lhomwe man from Phalombe.
That is a show of unity. That Malawians, no matter where they come from, are one.
No wonder, he integrated easily with everyone in society. Always happy. Always smiling. Ever open-minded.
This man O'brien Nazombe.
It is through Patsinde that people started paying to feast on poetry. For the first time, The WareHouse could be full with gate-paying poetry enthusiasts.
Good of you, O'brien Nazombe- even though you hear me no more,now.
Poet Gospel Kazako was left devoid of words after hearing of O'brien Nazombe's passing on.
He said: "I am sad, so sad. We have lost talent. Words cannot describe our loss."
Kazako even revealed that O'brien Nazombe extended an invitation to him so many times. O'brien Nazombe wanted Kazako to feature in 'Patsinde' programme.
But, as Gospel Kazako explained, his tight schedules never permitted him to do so.
"But (O'brien) Nazombe was patient. He never got angry at me".
It is too late for you to feature in one of the programmes now Gospel' I mean, with O'brien Nazombe directing things, posing the questions, fanning the conversation.
It is too late to confirm your participation now.
Words fly so slow now,. to get where O'brien Nazombe has gone to.
He doesn't listen any more. O'brien Nazombe.
So sad that O'brien Nazombe has gone without judging my poetry works.
Gone before judging me.
Gone before brushing my handwork with his mind.
It is too early, at 40; this 'morning' of your life.
O'brien Nazombe.
Renowned Poet,Stanley Onjezani Kenani, also Remembers the Departed O'brien Nazombe

Trust Me, Bingu

Friday, June 24, 2011:President Bingu wa Mutharika did not only speak, he dug deep into his heart, and pured his all in that emotional Friday address.
In deed, Muharika might have dug too deep into his supposedly mighty heart it was no surprise he nearly choked on his own words.
His was an attempt at restoring citizenry confidence in his administration; as he put it, the confidence and trust he enjoyed in the morning of his administration.
This trust propelled him on during an era when Malawian opposition parties took turns in taking deep dives into the pool of self-abandon and experimented at people welfare- neglect- yes, when the Malawi Congress Party, United Democratic Front, and others, tested the sweet fruits of power abuse, and lost the confidence of Malawians at that.
It was a time then, between 2004 and 2009, when civil society organisations could ride on the parachute of their anger, and experiment with partisan politics meddling. They called it a 'nationa- interest' campaign, and, in so many ways, they were justified in criticising opposition politicians and adopting the vigil route of self-expression to drive the point home: Malawians wanted the nationa budget first, impeachment of Mutharika came last in their minds.
Somehow, the national budgets passed, and only because Mutharika rode on the national sympathy horse.
People thought Mutharika would be good with more MPs, and gave him the votes, and the people, on May 20, 2009.
First mistake.
Because Mutharika went straight to 'waist', when he had never been known to be 'bad' or 'worse'.
His personality induced a feeling of national surprise.
Today, riding at the back of more numbers in Parliament, Mutharika has become the bad-boy people never wanted at the dawn of multiparty democracy in 1994. A year earlier, in June 1993, the people had said 'no, to the one party regime and dictatorship.
Some of these people- the voters of 1994- are long dead in a country where life expectancy for the majority is projected at less than 40 years. Some are alive, and feeling helpless because May 2014, the month and year Malawians next have eletions, is so far away.
Far away because the pain of fuel shortages, foreign exchange crisis, a man-made constitutional crisis borne out of the enactment of freedom-anathemic laws, and a national femine of trust, transparency, and confidence in national leadership are more burdensome than high hopes may ever carry.
Just in a nick of time, Mutharika has spearheaded a battle against intellectual discourse, human freedoms, and, if the truth be told, the systematic murder of the hope that carries the Malawian people forward in times of adversity and gloom.
When the world gets dark and the only place with a little light, faint light that glimmers in an enormous hole of darkness, is the human heart. The Malawian's heart.
All these issues are no laughing matter, and the Malawian people are very afraid to see the man they so trusted go solo in this game of national politics, a game whose playing cards are people's souls, national security, economic emancipation and social change.
So far, the human soul is weak, economic emancipation long-coming, the concept of national security has been turned upside-down because the people that were mearnt to be protected have become the enemies- enemies of a mighty state.
What happens when a President trumples upon citizens' rights, including the right to hold peaceful demonstrations? What is it when a 'whole' President, weighting over 69 kgs, wants his own people- some of hem weighting 20 kgs- to pay collateral before staging 'peaceful' demonstrations?
It is called 'National Security' turned against its 'benefactors'.
So many things are heading towards unanticipated places and destinations.
But, that Friday afternoon, Mutharika managed to over-look all these issues to speak from his heart.
When he speaks like that, people know that he has been touched by something. The only problem is that Mutharika seems to think that his pain is 'national', and overrides all other national pains.
That is the problem.
That is why, one may summise, he offers olive trees while offending others even more.
He did likewise when he announced the re-opening of Chancellor College and The Polytechnic- constituent colleges of the University of Malawi closed after Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, summoned Associate Lecturer Dr. Blessings Chinsinga over an example he gave within the class-compounds of Chancellor College in Zomba.
He asked lecturers to return to class while attacking staff welfare and union leaders.
And he left crucial issues unresolved. Those four lecturers who were fired by the University of Malawi Council remained fired. Mukhito remained unapologetic. Mutharika remained offensive and dictatorial.
And the issue, because the real issues- including the Commission of Enquiry Mutharika established to come up with the definition of academic freedom, and reasons for the current lecturers and Council stand off- remains unresolved.
All this shows, sadly, that Mutharika does not want Malawian University students to go back to school. He wants to blame lecturers for the University's continued closure when he had deliberately left issues unresolved.
Because Mutharika has no biological children studying with the University of Malawi, because he feels he is more important that he can stop the university calendar at any time, and because he doesn't real care for the ordinary Malawian parent who has a ward at one of the closed constituent colleges, he smiles every night before he goes to sleep.
And smiles every morning before he takes free breakfast.
He smiles at how powerful he has become.
Sad.
Even if Mutharika had biological children of school-going age, they would not be at the University of Malawi; if anything, the United States of America and United Kingdom would be the 'best' destinations.
That is why he smiles, and doesn't see sense in resigning for having failed Malawians.
As one Billy Banda, who executely directs Malawi Human Rights Watch, put it, "Mutharika should resign".
But that, too, does not ring in his mind.
He is so development-minded that he wants human freedoms, which he, in his egoistic thinking, feels are impeding on national social-economic development scraped from Constitutional provisions. He forgets that these are the spirit of the Constitution; that these are in the spirit of the Constitution.
What rang in his mind, that Friday afternoon, was the beating of his pains, and not the echoes of the collective pains of Malawians as fuel dries up in the vehicles that move the nation, forex gets more scarce than gold, mand human freedoms disappear at the whim of political appeasement.
His pains, as it were, are three: fuel shortage, forex shortage, and devaluing the national currency, the Kwacha.
He said fuel shortages have become a problem because private individuals and companies run the tanks that gives wheels to the nation. Otherwise, he enthused, fuel shortages are not a 'problem' because they are "normal". They are "normal" because even the United States of America, oil-producing Nigeria, and oil-dependent Britain also suffer from fuel shortages.
Because Petroleum Importers Limited is constituted by private individuals and companies, these folks are not interested in keeping fuel in reservours as that is costly and leaves money waiting at the fuel pump station, he said. That is why a 'normal' fuel shortage has become a crisis.
Malawi, he then promised, will solve this problem by establishing the National Oil Company of Malawi.
And, as if to show how one-minded and stubborn he is, Mutharika said the establishment of the new entity was a progressive step at defying the International Monetary Fund, which has long-advocated for private hands' ownership of such facilities, ownership Mutharika feels is catastrophic in the long run.
When there is no fuel, do people blame the petroleum importers? No.
That is his logic.
After all, petroleum importers are not voted in, during internationally-observed elections, by the public. If anything, their money 'votes' them into this sort of strategic business.
Secondly, the economist-statesman tackled the issue of forex shortage. He blamed it on the IMF again, saying because the institution advised government to stop banking forex with the Reserve Bank of Malawi- and, instead, leave the money in Authorised Dealer Banks' coffers- government followed such advice and is now in trouble.
In trouble bacause the hard-earned forex has gone into private hands, and there is no forex on which government can plan. Social services suffer in such cases, Mutharika said.
That is why forex shortages have become a problem as opposed to the norm they were supposed to be.
Only that Mutharika fell short of describing how he planned to defy the IMF on this.
But, naturally, this issue (forex shortage) led the president to the issue of devaluing the Kwacha.
Because government took heed to IMF proposal to bank with the 'commercial' bankers, and because, somehow, the bankers sold the forex to private individuals and businesses, the same were now colluding with the IMF to force government to devaluate the Kwacha so they could make quick bucks.
"These business people bought the forex when the Kwacha was trading at (Kwacha) 142 to one United States Dollar. Now they are colluding with the IMF and want us to peg the Kwacha at (Kwacha)182 so that they may realise more profit. If we do that, they will buy the U.S. Dollars again, and collide with the IMF to force us to devalue the national currency again. I can't devalue the Kwacha without assurances on what we will do with poor Malawians likely to suffer from that decision," said Mutharika.
So, Mutharika cares for the poor people only when they are likely to be affected by inflationally measures, and not when their future lies in limbo because he *(Mutharika) does not see sense in re-opening the university corridors for the sons and daughters of resource-constrained Malawians?
Mutharika stumped this plastic concern with the suppression of his own tears, his apparent chocking and falling over his own abstract voice.
If a voice develops legs so physical they trap the president's voice, why can't all these national concerns form a physical web to touch the president's eyelid, and wake him up from his deep slumber?
The nation weeps, he smiles.
He diginifies his secret, silent smiles with unpopular bills.
And pretends, all the while, to be in the shoes of the ordinary Malawian.
Shoes now occupied by fuel shortages, forex crisis and the muzzling of intellectual discourse.
Without shoes, and with as tough a road as present Malawi, will the ordinary citizen make it to 2014 bare-footed, bare-chested, bare-hearted, and stripped of hope?

Nyerere...

Yaluma jombooo!

Mulanje Porters Race on

...slated for Saturday, July 9, 2011
The 2011 annual Mount Mulanje Porters Race has become one of the most important events in Malawi, atracting people from other parts of the world.
On Saturday, 9 July 2011, the Mulanje Porters Race comes back to bring us together- people from across the length and bredth of the world.
The Porters Race is quickly turning into a sister-crowd puller the the world-acclaimed 'Lake of Stars'.

As they say, sports is a universal language that has three sure endings: victory, draw, or loss.
Just that, with the Mulanje Porters Race, drawing is neither here nor there.
You either win, or lose.
No two ways about it.
Come and be part of the event.

Mulanje Porters Race on

...slated for Saturday, July 9, 2011
The 2011 annual Mount Mulanje Porters Race has become one of the most important events in Malawi, atracting people from other parts of the world.
On Saturday, 9 July 2011, the Mulanje Porters Race comes back to bring us together- people from across the length and bredth of the world.
The Porters Race is quickly turning into a sister-crowd puller the the world-acclaimed 'Lake of Stars'.

As they say, sports is a universal language that has three sure endings: victory, draw, or loss.
Just that, with the Mulanje Porters Race, drawing is neither here nor there.
You either win, or lose.
No two ways about it.
Come and be part of the event.

Malawi's Living Hero

Heroes are not supposed to be dead, always.

Hon. Henry Duncan Phoya: Ruling Democratic Progressive Party's Legal Advisor, and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament's Chairperson


Henry Duncan Phoya has openly criticised decisions being made by President Bingu wa Mutharika, and ruling Democratic Progressive Party Member of Parliament's tendency to rubberstamp 'bad' laws.

Be courageuos Gladys Tembo, Kezzie Msukwa of Chitipa East, Jerome Waluza of Mchinji South, Jean Sendeza of Lilongwe South East and Donton Mkandawire, other members of the Legal Affairs Committee; stand for the truth, always.

Gay Couple Chased From Pool

By Michelle Garcia



The Hazard Pavilion A gay couple in Hazard, Ky., was ejected from a public recreation facility, sparking outrage from local LGBT organizations and allies.

The two men, who are reported to be developmentally and intellectually disabled, went to the pool at the Pavilion in Hazard, a city-owned facility. They were turned away by a maintenance technician, who told them, "We own this place and can tell you to leave if we want to."

Shirlyn Perkins, executive director of Mending Hearts Inc., said the two men are clients of her organization, which provides support for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. She said in a statement Monday that the Pavilion staff member used the Bible to urge the couple to leave the facility.

"My staff asked the Pavilion staff why they were being asked to leave, and they were informed that 'gay people' weren't allowed to swim there," she said. "My staff told this man that what he was trying to do was discrimination. The man stated that what he was doing was in the Bible and he could do it. My staff continued to argue with this man but was ultimately forced to leave. My clients, who already feel ridiculed and different, left the city-owned facility crying and embarrassed for trying to participate in 'normal' activities that everyday 'normal' people do."

Several organizations in Kentucky are planning to stage a protest at Hazard City Hall and at the Pavilion. The Kentucky Equality Federation's Will Taylor said, "The only way to stop the upcoming protest is an official apology for the way these people have been treated and immediate corrective action."- ADVOCATE

For Amunandife Mkumba: See You Once Again, Our Friend, A Thousand Years From Now

Amunandife Mkumba, the President for Malawian Democratic Union, was a humble man.
He never hesitated to appraise those interested with the how-dids of the pre-1994 era.
He never asked for a cabinet position, even when former Head of State and Government, Bakili Muluzi, was in power; yet the two individuals had their own way of knowing each other well.
From 1994 to three days ago, the day of his farewell to this blueless planet Earth, he was never seen driving.
In winter, he had at hand a jacket and umbrella as companions.
In summer, the umbrella shielded him from the sun as he walked- on foot, always- along the Masauko Chipembere Highway.
And now he is gone; to trod along the Masauko Chipembere Highway no more.
It is painful. This.
The last time I came into contact with him was four days ago, in a CLAIM Bookshop in Blantyre.
He was drinking Fanta-Passion.
He was sitting down.
It took him 20 minutes to finish the 300 ml bottle. No surprise. After all, he was never in a hurry in his entire life.
Never in a hurry to get to the country's presidency. That is why he never talked of 'going into the bush'.
He was satisfied leading a subsistence life, at least that is the impression one got.
The only time he complained of being in financial difficulties of sorts was late last year; when he bemoaned that, since May 2009, Muluzi had stopped giving hand-outs.
In a way,this had become his way of life- following Muluzi to his political meetings, and getting 'something' in return.
Not many things, just 'something', and you had Mkumba going on with life.
I talked to Mkumba in that CLAIM Bookshop. He said he was doing well.
He told me we would meet at Church.
Church? Yes. Since two years ago, Mkumba has been coming to our Church in Blantyre Central Business District.
Not that he was a member; he wanted to become one.
For two solid years, he has been investigating our church and partaking of the Sacrament.
He was a man who wanted to no more about things left half-explained, or unexplained, in the Bible and other books of scripture.
He was religious.
Every now and then, Mkumba would go to his Lower Ndirande Chibuku Tavern. He owned the land, and the place.
So, he often went there to collect his rentals.
These visits became more frequent after May 2009. The reason is obvious, as explained earlier on: Muluzi's troubles, troubles that have disturbed his fat pockets.

Amunandife Mkumba: To Be Missed By Malawians

No more will Malawians see one of the people who fought for multiparty democracy trod along the Masauko Chipembere Highway. Almost hopelessly.
Somehow sure-footed.
That was Mkumba for us.
Now gone in form, but to remain with us in spirit.
In our minds his memories to sit, and stay, and flourish.
As they say, go thee well our friend; to meet again, you and us- a thousand years from now.

Amunandife Mkumba: See you again, our friend, a thousand years from now

Call for Proposals: Internews innovation grant opportunity for small media

By fundsforngos, on June 9th, 2011
Internews Africa Region is proposing to fund the pilot projects proposed by
local NGOs, software companies and/or mobile phone operators, local media
outlets and individuals from various regions. Creative, innovative ideas
that involve the sharing and exchange of information will be considered for
funding. The incorporation of new media into project activities focused on
the use of text messaging, social media, mobile phones, webcasting,
podcasting, IVR systems, mBanking, mapping, crowdsourcing or other such
methodologies is highly encouraged. A special effort will be made to ensure
that the grant awarded is complementary to the overall Internews Africa
Region.

The pilot projects should be no more than 4 months in duration, with the
possibility of extending for an additional month to carry out a research on
the innovation piloted. Examples of topics for the pilot project may include
proposing technical solutions to issues around (but not limited to): health,
Diaspora remittances, agriculture, mining and extractive industry, refugees
and IDPs, and community media sustainability.

Eligibility

The fund is available for local NGOs, software companies and/or mobile phone
operators, local media outlets and individuals from various regions. The
pilot must be carried out in Sub-Saharan Africa. Organizations/Individuals
may submit more than one proposal for various projects, but each
organization is only eligible for one grant. These small innovation grants
will range from $5,000 to $30,000. Internews reserves the right to fund
parts or all of the activities of a particular proposal, to fund one or more
than one proposal, or to fund no proposals under this call.

Principle Selection Criteria:

- Must be an innovative project, in terms of technology used, or in terms of
approach or methodology.

- Clearly defined project objectives that relate to the goals of Internews
Network.

- Realistic and measurable project outputs and results.

- Success or failure of the innovation/technology is not a determining
factor for selection. Proposals should indicate how the lessons learned will
further refine activities, research etc.

- Proficiency of project staff and involved experts.

- Accuracy and effectiveness of project costs.

- Emphasis on media sustainability, diaspora, mBanking, crowdsourcing,
extractive industries are favored; although other topics will be considered

- Emphasis on local media favored.

- Registered organizations, media outlets, media related associations,
software companies/developers or local NGOs, web developer groups and
experts with proven track records or individuals are encouraged to apply.

- Projects aimed at partisan political purposes will not be supported

- Costs incurred before the official grant period begins will not be
reimbursed (including costs incurred for proposal preparation).

Last date for submitting the proposal is June 30, 2011

For more information and details, please visit this link.
.

Source Link:
http://www.fundsforngos.org/latest-funds-for-ngos/call-proposals-internews-i
nnovation-grant-opportunity-small-media-pilot-projects-subsaharan-africa/#ix
zz1PIKFuW5G
CopyrightCFUNDSFORNGOS.ORG. Do not remove this link.
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

African Environmental Journalists Form new federation

The African Federation of Environmental Journalists (AFEJ) comes after online consultations among the African environmental journalists particularly for those who are the members of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ). It aims to unite African affiliates of the International Federation of Environmental Journalists to better meet challenges faced by the people of Africa across the continent.

The prominent Liberian journalist, Jacob Eagan Bright, 43 was elected the chairperson of the federation and other directors are vice chairperson Ama Kudom-Agyemang from Ghana and coordinator of west Africa region, Dalia Abdel-Salam from Egypt coordinator of North Africa, Alain Gashaka from Burundi coordinator of East and Central africa region,Daud Abdi Daud from Somalia Secretary General and George Kebaso from Kenya communications officer. And they discussed deeply how it could do to help them cover environmental issues.



The new federation will spearhead a move seeking to expand and improve the media coverage of the key continental issues, including climate change, the environment, human rights, migration, peace-keeping and security, public health, trade, corporate social responsibility. And its main office will be Liberia but will have also three branches one in East and central Africa, the second one in Southern Africa and the third one in North Africa.

Environmental problems constitute one of the key challenges on the African continent in the 21st century.

Focus is gradually shifting from politics, wars, and poverty to environmental issues. This is mainly the result of the development of new technologies, which has generated an increase in solid mineral mining, oil exploration, an increase in the number of plants and factories, and the overall upsurge in the application of manufacturing tools.

The quality and richness of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments have been polluted and subsequently declined.

It is therefore safe to say that new developments in industry and manufacturing are the root causes of environmental degradation over the past three decades.

This has been exacerbated by rapid population growth, urbanization, energy consumption, overgrazing, over-cultivation of lands, and industrial advancements engendered by globalization.

Environmental problems in Africa are therefore partly anthropogenic or human-induced though not necessarily by Africans), which is the result of the effect of chemical and human waste on all forms of ecological and human life. But natural causes cannot be overlooked and consist
of:

* Earthquakes (the Great Rift Valley is geologically active and particularly susceptible to this phenomenon)

* Hot springs and active volcanoes are also found to the extreme east of the Rift Valley

* Erosion

* Deforestation

* Desertification

* Drought

* Water shortages resulting from the dry season.

The African Federation of Environmental Journalists (AFEJ) as continental group of the IFEJ has been formed; as a continental group for journalists and media workers in Africa AFEJ shall be involved in trade union development and journalists' welfare and ethical journalism in the media industry in Africa.

For more information contact;
George Kebaso,
AFEJ,communications officer.
Mobile: +254 721 774 198
Email: afej2011@gmail.com

For the Record: UNICEF calls African governments to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse

UNICEF calls African governments to protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse



Theme of the 2011 Day of the African Child: “All together for urgent action in favour of street children”


NEW YORK/ADDIS ABABA, 16 June 2011 – Thousands of children in Africa are experiencing violence, exploitation and abuse on a daily basis. The situation is especially stark for children living and working on the streets.

On the occasion of the 21st annual Day of the African Child, UNICEF calls on governments to strengthen support systems, which provide the basis for a more protective environment in families and communities to keep children safe and strengthen families through the provision of basic social, health and education services.


“These children have already been forced from the protection of their homes, only to be subjected to even greater risks on the streets,” said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director. “On the Day of the African Child -- and every day -- we must do all we can to address the reasons why so many children are separated from their families, and invest in new efforts to protect them, no matter where they live.”


Widespread poverty, conflicts, HIV and AIDS and climate change as well as violence in the home are forcing more and more children to leave their homes to live and work on the streets, exposed to harm and exploitation. Many others end up in less visible exploitative situations, working in households, on farms, in mines or even in armed groups.

In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 50 million children have lost one or both parents, almost 15 million of them due to AIDS. Some of them are forced to grow up on their own, with limited or no support from adult caretakers. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of child labour in the world with more than one-third of children aged 5–14 being engaged in the hardest forms of labour.

“The issue of children working and living on the streets in African towns and cities is only the visible face of large-scale violations of rights,” said Agnès Kabore Ouattara, Chairperson of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. “It is a consequence of socio-economic factors such as poverty, demographic explosion, rural-urban migration, political crises, as well as inter-personal problems such as violence and rejection at home in dysfunctional families.”


These challenges reinforce the need to strengthen the role of families and communities in promoting and protecting the wellbeing of children. As a consequence, governments, with support from partners, need to invest adequate resources in the disadvantaged rural or provincial communities, to reduce disparities between regions and income groups as well as to fight discrimination based on sex, age, ethnicity amongst other factors.


Over the past years, a number of African countries have achieved important gains in the implementation of the child rights framework. Many countries have introduced social protection mechanisms including cash transfers, which play a key role in supporting vulnerable families and preventing children from leaving their homes to secure some income on the street or in other exploitative labour conditions.

UNICEF is collaborating with governments throughout the continent to create a protective environment by both fostering social welfare programmes and engaging in advocacy efforts to protect children from exploitation and abuse.



Note for the editor

The Day of the African Child commemorates a 1976 march in Soweto South Africa, when thousands of African school children took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot down and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured. To honour the memory of those killed and the courage of all those who marched, the Day of the African Child has been celebrated on 16 June every year since 1991, when it was first initiated by the Organization of African Unity. The Day also draws attention to the lives of African children today.


About UNICEF

UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

Mulanje Porters Race on

...slated for Saturday, July 9, 2011
The 2011 annual Mount Mulanje Porters Race has become one of the most important events in Malawi, atracting people from other parts of the world.
On Saturday, 9 July 2011, the Mulanje Porters Race comes back to bring us together- people from across the length and bredth of the world.
The Porters Race is quickly turning into a sister-crowd puller the the world-acclaimed 'Lake of Stars'.

As they say, sports is a universal language that has three sure endings: victory, draw, or loss.
Just that, with the Mulanje Porters Race, drawing is neither here nor there.
You either win, or lose.
No two ways about it.
Come and be part of the event.

Our Living Hero

Hon. Henry Duncan Phoya: Ruling Democratic Progressive Party's Legal Advisor, and Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament's Chairperson


Henry Duncan Phoya has openly criticised decisions being made by President Bingu wa Mutharika, and ruling Democratic Progressive Party Member of Parliament's tendency to rubberstamp 'bad' laws.

Be courageuos Gladys Tembo, Kezzie Msukwa of Chitipa East, Jerome Waluza of Mchinji South, Jean Sendeza of Lilongwe South East and Donton Mkandawire, other members of the Legal Affairs Committee; stand for the truth, always.

For Amunandife Mkumba: See You Once Again, Our Friend, A Thousand Years From Now

Amunandife Mkumba, the President for Malawian Democratic Union, was a humble man.
He never hesitated to appraise those interested with the how-dids of the pre-1994 era.
He never asked for a cabinet position, even when former Head of State and Government, Bakili Muluzi, was in power; yet the two individuals had their own way of knowing each other well.
From 1994 to three days ago, the day of his farewell to this blueless planet Earth, he was never seen driving.
In winter, he had at hand a jacket and umbrella as companions.
In summer, the umbrella shielded him from the sun as he walked- on foot, always- along the Masauko Chipembere Highway.
And now he is gone; to trod along the Masauko Chipembere Highway no more.
It is painful. This.
The last time I came into contact with him was four days ago, in a CLAIM Bookshop in Blantyre.
He was drinking Fanta-Passion.
He was sitting down.
It took him 20 minutes to finish the 300 ml bottle. No surprise. After all, he was never in a hurry in his entire life.
Never in a hurry to get to the country's presidency. That is why he never talked of 'going into the bush'.
He was satisfied leading a subsistence life, at least that is the impression one got.
The only time he complained of being in financial difficulties of sorts was late last year; when he bemoaned that, since May 2009, Muluzi had stopped giving hand-outs.
In a way,this had become his way of life- following Muluzi to his political meetings, and getting 'something' in return.
Not many things, just 'something', and you had Mkumba going on with life.
I talked to Mkumba in that CLAIM Bookshop. He said he was doing well.
He told me we would meet at Church.
Church? Yes. Since two years ago, Mkumba has been coming to our Church in Blantyre Central Business District.
Not that he was a member; he wanted to become one.
For two solid years, he has been investigating our church and partaking of the Sacrament.
He was a man who wanted to no more about things left half-explained, or unexplained, in the Bible and other books of scripture.
He was religious.
Every now and then, Mkumba would go to his Lower Ndirande Chibuku Tavern. He owned the land, and the place.
So, he often went there to collect his rentals.
These visits became more frequent after May 2009. The reason is obvious, as explained earlier on: Muluzi's troubles, troubles that have disturbed his fat pockets.
No more will Malawians see one of the people who fought for multiparty democracy trod along the Masauko Chipembere Highway. Almost hopelessly.
Somehow sure-footed.
That was Mkumba for us.
Now gone in form, but to remain with us in spirit.
In our minds his memories to sit, and stay, and flourish.
As they say, go thee well our friend; to meet again, you and us- a thousand years from now.

Amunandife Mkumba: See you again, our friend, a thousand years from now

Basmal to Commemorate FIBA Golden Jubilee

The Basketball Association of Malawi will commemorate the Golden Jubilee FIBA Africa Day with basketball games, three pointer shoot outs and various other skill challenge contests as well as live music at the Blantyre Youth Center on the morning of its Annual General Meeting, Saturday June 18, 2011 from 9:00.



Created on June 14, 1961 in Cairo, Egypt under the acronym A.F.A.B.A. (African Basketball Federations Association, it became FIBA Africa (International Federation of Basketball Zone Africa) in 2002 and clocked 50 on June 14, 2011.



From June 14th to 21st, 2011, the FIBA Secretariat has been involved in celebratory events that include Radio and TV programs, film screening broadcast on International channels such as Africa N1, RFI, Africable and Canal+.



During the same period of June 14th to 21st, 2011, national federations have organized games that will be captured on video and photos for publishing on a website dedicated to the FIBA Golden Jubilee.

Oliver Mtukudzi is New UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa

“I am glad I can play my part in speaking on HIV prevention, against abuse, molestation, stigma and to make our continent a better place for our children.”


Harare, 21 June 2011 – Through his powerful lyrics, renowned Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi has spoken out against stigma, discrimination and abuse of children. His music has gone beyond the Zimbabwean borders and inspired leaders from Government and Civil Society as well as parents to take more positive steps in promoting children’s rights. It is this humanitarian element, which the music icon will continue to push, as he assumes his new role as UNICEF Regional Goodwill Ambassador for Eastern and Southern Africa, focusing on Young People's Development and HIV and AIDS Prevention.

Mtukudzi, affectionately known as “Tuku”, becomes the first Zimbabwean personality among other prominent sports, music and movie stars, who through their artistic gifts, work with UNICEF in advocating for children’s rights.


“Mtukudzi has demonstrated a genuine commitment to communicating strong and clear messages about the importance of child and young people’s rights, including their right to live free from HIV and AIDS.”, said UNICEF Regional Director Elhadj As Sy in his appointment of the music icon. “Our Regional Goodwill Ambassadors are chosen not only because of their name recognition but more particularly because of the respect with which they are held and their appeal as genuine humanitarians.”


Mtukudzi’s appointment to the post on Thursday came during commemorations of the Day of the African Child, an occasion at which “Tuku” spent the day with children at an event hosted at the UNICEF House. More than 300 children from different parts of the country got a chance to interact with this respected musician at the Voices of Children session also attended by senior Government officials, donors, United Nations Agencies, Civil Society Organisations and prominent sports personalities.

“Through his forty year music career, Tuku has championed the plight of the African Child,” said UNICEF Representative, Dr. Peter Salama. “His songs such as ‘Todii’, and ‘Street Kids’, not only question society’s response to HIV and AIDS and to children living on the streets, but have motivated great progress around these issues.”

A passionate and loving father figure, Mtukudzi accepted the invitation to become Goodwill Ambassador and will join UNICEF and other Goodwill Ambassadors in the world in advocating for the child rights agenda.

“I am humbled by this recognition of my efforts,” said Mtukudzi. “My role as a musician is to raise awareness and motivate wider responses to the social and economic problems that continue to deprive children of a good development. I am glad I can play my part in speaking on HIV prevention, against abuse, molestation, stigma and to make our continent a better place for our children.”

Throughout the commemorations of the Day of the African Child, “Tuku” engaged with the children through strumming some of his popular songs on guitar. This became the second consecutive year that Mtukudzi supported UNICEF advocacy work by joining Zimbabwe’s children in their commemorations of the Day of the African Child in his support of UNICEF Zimbabwe’s advocacy work. Last year, “Tuku” collaborated with UNICEF and wrote a special song dedicated to Zimbabwe's children on the Day of the African Child. The song called on Zimbabwe's leaders to place children highest on the national agenda.


In 2009, on the occasion of CRC@20 he teamed up with UNICEF, the Inclusive Government and partners in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child when UNICEF was calling on all Principals of the Inclusive Government to keep children's rights above and beyond all the political challenges facing the country.

This year’s Day of the African Child commemorations were held under the African Union theme: “All Together for Urgent Actions in Favor of Street Children”. It is a realisation of the huge challenge facing children living outside the family environment, whether because of poverty, abuse or HIV and AIDS. Throughout June and July, different activities will be held in the country, including children’s rights sensitization sessions; media outreach and the 19th session of the children’s parliament to be held on 16 July 2011, focused on children and the Constitution.

In Zimbabwe, the growing population of children living on the streets is a reflection of the high orphan population in the country. One in four children in Zimbabwe has lost one or both parents, most of them as a result of HIV and AIDS. Undoubtedly, many of these young people face immense challenges and deprivations and struggle to access even the most basic social services, forcing them into undesirable situations such as living on the streets.

Biography – Oliver Mtukudzi
Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi is a Zimbabwean Musician (born September 22, 1952 in Highfield, Harare).

Gifted with a deep and gusty voice plus a talent for writing songs that reflect on the daily life and struggles of the people, Mtukudzi’s career has spanned more than twenty years. Mtukudzi has produced 42 original albums, most of them bestsellers. But it is his dedication to the live music scene in Zimbabwe - playing to enthusiastic audiences even in the remotest parts of the country - that has earned him the respect and admiration of the people in Zimbabwe. Oliver’s desire to bring his message to a wider audience led him to venture into the worlds of film and stage.

He sings in the nation's dominant Shona language along with Ndebele and English. He also incorporates elements of different musical traditions, giving his music a distinctive style, known to fans as "Tuku Music". Apart from the individuality of his music, Tuku's enduring popularity has largely resulted from his powers as a lyricist. Most of his songs focus on the social and economic issues that govern people's daily lives. His infectious sense of optimism that pervades all his music, appeals to young and old alike. His commitment to fighting the AIDs pandemic through his open approach to the topic in his songs has contributed greatly to restoring a sense of care and responsibility within the wider community.

As the oldest of seven children, Oliver developed a sense of social and economic responsibility early in life due to the premature death of his father. He is the father of five children and has two grandchildren, two of whom are also musicians. His son Sam Mtukudzi, a successful musician in his own right, died in a car accident in March 2010.

Oliver Mtukudzi has been collaborating with UNICEF Zimbabwe on a number of themes including child and youth participation and HIV prevention. Worth noting is Mtukudzi’s song “Deaf Hear”, especially composed and dedicated to children, at the request of UNICEF Zimbabwe and donated free of charge on the occasion of the 2010 ‘Day of the African Child’ commemorations.

Malawi in Trouble

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the country is off-track.
The World Bank can only offer financial support to the impoverished Southern African Development Community member state after getting the green light from its twin sister, IMF- a twin sister who now says the country has left the designated rail for the unknown.
That means CABS (meaning, Common Approach to Budgetary Support)- a grouping of Malawi's development partners- cannot release over K21 billion in financial support. Their contribution is inter-twinned with IMF's approval, too.
Britain, Malawi's traditional bilateral donor- and until two years ago, Malawi's largest bilateral donor- is still angry that its envoy to Malawi, Fergus Cochraine-Dyet, got the a painful kick from rom President Bingu wa Mutharika's Made-in-China boot.
It thus came as no surprise that the former colonial master announced it was reviewing its relationship with Malawi, and promised no financial support.
Meanwhile, Mutharika is busy trumpling upon human rights and freedoms: freedom of expression, the press and the right to legal redress have become so anathema to his development agenda that he is pushing infamous bills down the throats of Democratic Progressive Party legislators.
The opposition, being in minority, can do nothing- except, perhaps, and occasionally, adopting the marching-out-of-Parliament expression of displeasure to send messages of disapproval.
New political parties, including the People's Party of Vice-President Joyce Banda, are being denied the right to registration as enshrined in the Republican Constitution.
This is happening despite Court orders to register concerned parties.
DPP Cadres have started beating up traditional leaders, too, the latest case being in Balaka where a chief was stripped naked in broad day-light.
Now, Malawians have to make do with a Zero-deficit Budget that has puzzled the IMF, World Bank and economists. For the ordinary Malawian, it is not the puzzle they are concerned with, it is the hard, bigger tax portions they have to deal with now.
It is like milking a thin cow.
Malawi is in a 'loud' crisis!

Petroda, Energem Save Malawians Well Amidst Fuel Crisis

Malawian motorists are thanking Petroda and Energem, some of Malawi's energy sector players, for coming to their rescue through their swift loading and off-loading fuel delivery systems.
But this is not surprising, says Energy and Mines Minister Grain Malunga, as the two operators run " a small number of filling stations".
Every three days at Kameza Petroda Filling Station, Ndirande Energem Filling Station, Chirimba Energem Filling Station, CI Petroda Filling Station, among other outlets in Malawi's commercial city of Blantyre, tanks loaded with either Diesel or Petrol bless motorists with hope and smiles- rare expressions in these times of groom.
The only problem remains that fuel attendants tell motorists they have run out of fuel when that is not the case- the fuel crisis has led to a boom in black market trading.
What's more? Other motorists are buying fuel at twice the price, in the middle of the night.

Faced with Majority Odds, Malawi's Opposition Sees only the Door Out of Parliament

Never once, during the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) minority-rule, first-term of office, did ruling Members of Parliament (MPs) walk out of the National Assembly, and (walk out) on the National Assembly.
They knew the door, having passed through its supporting posts to get into- in those days, before Parliament shifted places, New State House and, then- The New Parliament Building.
The 'waist', or linking factor, of all these supposed building of honours is the term 'Lilongwe'- all these August Houses were, and are, located in Malawi's capital city, the foreign-sounding Lilongwe.

John Zenus Ungapake Tembo: Gave Mutharika no breathing space between 2004 and 2009

Light continued to pass through the gaps in the doors leading to the New State House Parliamentary Chambers- which now 'fully' houses State President Bingu wa Mutharika- the same kind of light that beats security at the Chinese-built New Parliament Building, to force its way into the August House and penetrate into the faded jackets of male MPs, as well as National Wear for the women legislators- during Mutharika's first five-year term.
The then Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Hon. John Zenus Ungapake Tembo (if I don't mention 'Honourable' for a man who has been my MP in Dedza South since the time I was born, who will?) saw the light; so did Leader of Government Business in Parliament, who is now Speaker of the National Assembly, Hon. Henry Chimunthu (if I don't respect my Speaker, who will?), and United Democratic Front's Leader in Parliament, Ibrahim Matola.
But they never went after the light; they, kind of, simply remained glued to their comfortable chairs- thinking about tea break, sitting allowances, impeachment, pay increment, fuel allowance, Constituency Development Fund, Agalu Inu, Subereka, Umkakoka galu nthawi yaKongeresi (Malawi Congress Party- MCP) iwe, Chitsulo chanjanji, Mr. Speaker Sir, Vigil, the vehicle has capsized, budget or impeachment, Mr. Speaker Sir Madam, and others.
And the days passed; Mutharika's term errupsed.

President Bingu wa Mutharika: Has now turned his accummulated anger into negative energy, crumping down on human rights, press freedom, intellectual discourse
Gone with the wind.
Some say Mutharika's first term of office died so quickly, like a promising son who dies in the fifth year of life;others are grateful that the pain that was 2004-2009 came and went- giving Mutharika ample time, during which time he banked on people's sympathy to 'whip' the opposition overwhelmingly in the May 2009 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
Not only did Mutharika emerge as the unassailable victor; he broke the chains of history by becoming the first Malawian leader to beat the opposition so thoroughly it is no strange he is ruthless today- turning his true-self towards efforts that are but anathema to democracy.
Today, Bingu is not Mutharika he is 'Mr. Fighter'. On one hand, he has wedged a war against academic freedom and intellectual discourse; press freedom, through the infamous ammendment to Section 46 of the Penal Code, as he seeks to tighten the screws on transparency and free flow of information; a crump-down on the opposition, as seen through the Registrar of Political Parties' action in rebuffing, among others, registration of Maravi People's Party, independent candidate James Nyondo's party, and, now, the People's Party of Vice President Joyce Banda.
Mutharika is not satisfied with these 'handcuffs' on democracy's little hands, he wants to 'arrest' the legs that talk on behalf of the mouth (public demonstrations) by suggesting, and maintaining his stand as if it were a public policy or Constitutional provision, that demonstrators pay collateral before any such action.
Mapuya Murupwana, as Mutharika is fondly called by the Mulhako wa Alhomwe cultural grouping, argues that the K2 million he is suggesting will go towards repairing the damage likely to be caused by such 'peaceful' demonstrations.
He seems to assure Malawians that, in the case of death, the money will go towards restoring life; if one loses a leg, he knows where to find one; if cars get damaged, the deposited funds are a sure Insurance Cover- no need to look up to Prime Insurance, Nico Insurance, Real Insurance, among others.
That is the negative side of that undemocratic suggestion: it renders insurers useless in an economy said to be liberalised.
But that is the present-day Mutharika, anyway; a Mutharika who saw the light passing through the Honourable doors, too, but never chickened out.
At one point, the John Tembo-led, opposition-dominated Parliament, booed the 'Excellent'President hourse during his delivery of The State of the Nation Address. The year 2007 went down with that sad record- opposition MPs booing a sitting State President, and getting away with it.
Mutharika spoke; the opposition booed.
Just like that.
In the midst of all those booes, Mutharika stopped in mid-speech, waiting for the opposition to boo, shout, exclaim, and wriggle their undisciplined mouths until they got tired. That way, he hoped, he would finish his speech uninterrupted.
He had a speech to finish.
But, to Mutharika's supprise, the opposition MPs present in the House all fell into a hush of sorts one could hear the Speaker inhale in and out.
Mutharika thought it over, that the noise was over.
Surprise.
The moment he opened his mouth- the mouth that now calls "some Europeans" "stupid", for listening to a 'stupid opposition"- the noise started; slowly at first, and, then, into a loud boo.
He kept quiet again, and looked upwards, as if to cry, as if to plead, as if in prayer, as if to run. He might have done one of the listed actions, but one thing he never did: see the light, and follow it out of the door.
He was there.
He endured.
He even surpressed his imminent anger, adopting the figure of a sacrificial lamb- an innocent citizen destined convicted for that gruesome punishment: hanging.
Many believe that it was in such moments that Mutharika won people's hearts.
This was a time when Civil Society Organisations could take time off and organise vigils in behalf of Mutharika. Today, these organisations have become Mutharika's enemies.
He has openly pointed his thick finger at such human rights activists as Undule Mwakasungula, and called them enemies in public. Fortunately, these activits have not chickened out.
Unfortunately, these very same huma rights activits are not here for the national cause; they have, sort of, made it into a career that feeds their bloated mouths, and over-sizes their extended pockets.
That is why some of these human rights activits cannot quit; they are in it for the money.
Nobody benefits, not even the poor and marginalised. Their wives do.
Some of these human rights activits don't even take care of their relatives: they are too pre-occupied with the task fo taking care of society's most vulnerable members.
There is no way out, it seems, between Mutharika and human rights activists.
The the activists organised vigils and Mutharika benefited. Now, they are enemies of sorts; not enemies in a just course, but because they are pulling the same banknote in opposite directions!
All these things could, however, not be seen in the period that was 2004-2009. Only one thing was visible and clear- the light passing through the doors of honour, and parliament, and the New State House.
But none of these followed the light, for that would be chickening out.
And cowardice.
Everyone carried on their tasks to the bitter, sure end.
Today?
Well, the opposition seems to have recovered its eye sight.
The ageing Tembo's, toungue-wagging Uladi Mussas, over-ambitious Atupele Muluzi's saw the light.
And followed it out of Parliament in what today, Thursday, has come to be called an 'Opposition Walk Out'.
Out of what? Parliament.
Destination: Not the Constituency, as most MPs stay in town, but following the light.
The light that was there between 2004 and 2009, ,and never got followed by mature, couragious men who opted to face the carvivore than erase history with a pencil years after.
This light.

The then, and present, Opposition Leader in Parliament John Zenus Ungapake Tembo and former Head of State and United Democratic Front Chairperson, Bakili Muluzi: Oh, everything seemed good then!

Eclpse of the Moon

It happens once in a while, and, all the while, Malawians take some time off to watch the occurings in the sky.
It may be night, it may be day- in which case, it becomes an eclipse of the sun- but people, some people, will still find the time to watch in bewilderment and partake of the spectable that is an eclips,; a rare occurence when the sun and the moon cross paths and create either of the two products: total darkness or dim light.
On Wednesday, just such an occurence took hold, forcing people out of doors in the face of a hands-numbing winter that is beginning to bite hard in Malawi.
When Thursday came, news of the eclipsae took centre-stage.
And people smiled.
Only once, at Portugaria in Blantyre Central Business District, did I see a man get angry at the news of the eclipse.
But his three male friends still made fun of him; they said he was asleep when it all begun, and finished.
The eclipse then passed him unnoticed in his sleep.

Malawi's Fuel Shortage: Prestige, Women Lose First Place

It has become a norm.
It is so embarassing it ties tiny bits of prestige into knots of shame.
This is the story of fuel shortages in Malawi.
Everyday, especially on working days- which, esentially, means Monday to Friday- respectable men and women stand on queues.
Often, it is a long, barren wait; sometimes, it is as short as a State President's order for dinner, in which case wishes turn into realities at the brink of an eye.

Part of Life:Malawi is facing an acute fuel shortage

But it is still a wait. People get no pay for it, except, perhaps, for the pain it is, and the pain it inflicts: this is Malawi's tale of fuel, a tell so riddled with terms like shortage, crisis, problems, challenges- and suc names as Nacala Corridor, Zambezi Bridge, Grain Malunga, President Bingu wa Mutharika, Petroleum Importers Limited, National Oil Company of Malawi, Petroda, BP, Cartex, Total, black marketers, fuel pump, fuel, diesel, petrol, government, among others.
It is also a story so inter-mingled and twisted it leads to rivers of thoughts on Mutharika's performance, the current administration's performance appraisals, ruling Democratic Progressive Party's competence to run the affairs that are one bundle of distress called Malawi, opposition merchandising (that is, whether the Malawi opposition offers better leadership alternatives), among others.
It is a sad, long, confused story the only unifying factor has become the term 'fuel'.
At the rate things are going, it may not be wrong to say that, in Malawi, people have stopped looking up to the powers that be- both on earth and above the blueless sky- and are increasingly looking up to 'fuel' as the saviour and redeemer of their static vehicles, as well as their pampered lives.
In the past, it was honour- and more prestice- to own a vehicle. People did not mind about the condition of a vehicle: so long as it was a runner, it was a vehicle- the symbol of honour, and distinction.
Today, even in the work of the influx of Japanese vehicles, the status quo has not changed much- a vehicle means life, a step further on to the mountain of the stairs called life.
No more. At least, for the time being.
People are so obsessed with fuel availability; and people are angry that they own vehicle, a form of temporary madness with the moveable tools that have sustained them from place to place, offering safety in the coffin of darkness, when panga-knife wielding angels of death lie in ambush- waiting to separate body and soul. Their knives and night weapons are the tools of divorce, and have caused havoc among the population for such a long time.
Perhaps, as ong as vehicles have not been there. When the vehicls came, and people in their pockets folked, things changed alittle, as vehicles offered some sense of protection.
Protection in real form and not just feelings of prestice.
Today, vehicles are the source of misery- forcing men in suits to stand on the queue, and well-dressed women to take their place on the fuel queue, and forget the phrase that has sustained African women for such a long time, and, in a way, left them stuck in the mud of stereotypes: women first.
Women no longer come first; it is fuel that has taken that space on the bed of Malawian life, and Malawi's realities.

NAMES OF CANDIDATES FOR BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF MALAWI (BASMAL) ELECTIVE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

POSITION AND CANDIDATE AS SUBMITTED TO THE MALAWI NATIONAL COUNCIL OF SPORTS

President
1. Jacob Chikoya



2. Kingsley Gwaza



3. Raymond Banda



Vice President
1. Humphrey Chipilingu



2. Ben Bexter Mlasaanthu



3. Vilanji Nkhwazi





Secretary
1. Mayeso Chirwa



2. Daud Suleman



Vice Secretary
1. Barlett Mafuleka



2. Dalitso Tepetheya



Treasurer
1. Lusubilo Mwangonde



2. Linley Givah



3. Talumba Chilinkhwambe



Committee member
1. Luciano Milala



2. Obed Chiyunguna Nyirongo



3. Sunduzwayo L. Chaula



4. Victor Jere



5. Young Jere



6. Omalha Kanjo



7. Susan Mponda

A BUDGET OF MYSTIC HOPE: HOW WILL THE 2011/12 ‘ ZERO DEFICIT NATIONAL BUDGET’ IMPACT THE MALAWIAN HOUSEHOLDS?

14TH JUNE, 2011
A BUDGET OF MYSTIC HOPE: HOW WILL THE 2011/12 ‘ ZERO DEFICIT NATIONAL BUDGET’ IMPACT THE MALAWIAN HOUSEHOLDS?
The achievement of 6% economic growth rate in Malawi by the end of 2010 is commendable as long as socio- economic conditions continue to improve. CFSC commends the government for increased allocations in the social sector that mainly include public health which has been allocated 43 billion kwachas (14 % of total budget), the education sector alloacted 54billion kwachas (18% of total budget). The Zero budget deficit national budget will be pro-poor only and only if the increased allocation in the social sector (health & education) can translate into timely availability of medicines and equipment in hospitals, teaching materials in schools and highly motivated civil servants to deliver high quality health and education services to the common person. Too often, access to basic social services becomes a reality to the poorest only when all other socio economic groups got access to them. As such, government ought to consider putting in place motivational mechanisms to boost up the morale of the civil servants that are key players in public service delivery. While we commend the governemnet for a monetary reward such as 7% civil servants salary increase, K5, 000 rural teacher hardship allowance and the increased tax free threshold from K10, 000 to K12, 000, there is need to call for other non monetary motivational rewards. It is worthy noting indeed that government has set aside 50 million for public management course for senior officers in the civil service and 500 million for human development scholarship for university of Malawi and Mzuzu. It will be important that candidates are selected in a free and fair manner without nepotism and should be gender sensitive. Inaddition, junior staff that form also majority of civil service needs to be motivated just as their counter parts. Why a universal rate of salary increases when mostly juniors have meagre salaries? It would be better for government to consider a higher percentage increase than their seniors who already have other fringe benefits such as higher subsistence allowances.
The joy of the 7% civil servants salary increase and the increase of tax-free threshold from K10, 000 to K12, 000 is short lived because of the 16.5% value addet tax (VAT) of food items such as salt, eggs, and edible meat offals. While we acknowledge that government is necessitated by among other reasons the need to find alternative ways of financing the 2011/12 Zero deficit budget in light of the difficult revenue situatiuon faced by Malawi following economic meltdown due to mixed challenges (crises of tobacco, forex, fuel, youth unemployment, difficult relations with donors and high rates of economic growth which induced increased imports without corresponding exports). However, such kind of policy will come with trade -offs despite the good will the government had intended for. Obviously, not withstanding the elasticity of demand and supply, a VAT is likely to increase prices of consumer goods and services as suppliers shift the tax on consumers. Low-income households will suffer the most because they usually spend a large share of their income on food. Of course, medium to high-income households will also be affected but their effect may be negligible given that they have degrees of freedom to adjust their consumption patterns in response to VAT. These households usually have productive assets and also are able to take consumption loans from financial institutions unlike the low-income households.
The success of the Zero budget deficit budget is not only measured by how well it will improve the Malawi economy but also how responsive it will be to the household economy. Economic growth should be treated as a means to an end. That is: the end of stagnation of incomes for most malawians, the subsequent of insecurity and instability into the lives of the malawian people which are the root causes of many problems that we are grappling with today. There is crisis of the rising cost of housing, food, transport and even energy crisis. The strength of the recently presented 2011/12 Zero deficit budget lies in how well it aligns itself to the objectives of the country’s second Malawi Growth Development Strategy Paper (MGDS II) as well as other important international commitments such as the Millenium Development Goals (MGDs).

Furthermore, the ever-rising cost of living within cities and other towns in Malawi presents to the country an extremely serious challenge upon which all efforts must be concentrated. For example, the CFSC Basic Needs Basket, a survey of the cost of living for an average household with six members showed an increase in the cost of basic food and essential non-food items. In Lilongwe, the total cost of basic food items and essential non-food items such as housing, water and electricity for the month of May 2011 was K53, 731 up from K52, 825 in April 2011. This upward adjustment was largely as a result of price increases in food basket such as the dry fish, vegetables (tomatoes & onions), cooking oil, and sugar. The total cost of basic food items was K26, 239 signifying a nominal increase of K878 when compared to the April cost of food amounting to K25, 361. The trend is the same for Blantyre city; total cost of basic needs items was at K53, 621 in May 2011 from K52, 723 in April 2011.
In Zomba, the total cost of basic food items and essential non-food items for the month of May 2011 was K45, 200 up from K44, 241 in April 2011. This upward adjustment was as a result of price increases of non-food items such as charcoal, Boom washing soap, clere body lotion apart from the increases in the food items such as dry fish, vegetables (tomatoes & onions), cooking oil, and sugar. The total cost of basic food items was K27, 039 signifying a nominal increase of K749 when compared to the April cost of food amounting to K26, 290. As for Mzuzu, registered decreases in the prices of dry fish, eggs, beef cassava and while prices for bread, sugar, salt, boom washing soap remained constant. This triggered a nominal reduction of K2, 199 in the total cost of the basic needs from K46, 492 in April 2011 to K44, 293 in May 2011.
Center for Social Concern, P.O. Box 40049, Lilongwe, Malawi
Tel: 265-1-715-632 Fax: 260-1-716-136 E-mail: jkuppens@cfscmalawi.org or fmkomba@cfscmalawi.org /cfsc@malawi.net ; Location: Next to St. Francis Catholic Parish, Area 25C, Kanengo Website: www.cfscmalawi.org

COMMUNIQUÉ EXTRAORDINARY SUMMIT OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENTOF THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY SANDTON, REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA 11 and 12 JUNE, 2011

1. The Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was held at Sandton, Republic of South Africa on 11 and 12 June 2011.

2. The Summit was officially opened by His Excellency Hifikepunye Pohamba,President of the Republic of Namibia and SADC Chairperson.
3. The Summit was attended by the following Heads of State and Government or their representatives: Lesotho : Rt. Hon. Pakalitha Mosisili; Malawi : H.E. Ngwazi Prof. Bingu Wa Mutharika; Mozambique : H.E. Armando Emilio Guebuza ; Namibia : H.E. Hifikepunye Pohamba; South Africa : H.E. Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma; Swaziland : H.M. King Mswati III; Tanzania : H.E. Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete;Zimbabwe : H.E. Robert Gabriel Mugabe; Botswana : H.E. Lt. Gen. Mompati Merafhe, Vice President; Seychelles : H.E Dr Danny Faure, Vice President. Zambia : H.E. George Kunda, Vice President and Minister of Justice; Angola : Hon. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Minister of External Relations; DRC : Hon. Raymond Tshibanda N’tungamulongo, Minister of Regional and International Cooperation; Mauritius : Hon. Dr. Arvin Boolell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade.
4. The Summit was also attended by SADC Executive Secretary Dr. Tomaz A. Salomão.
5. In attendance of the Summit was also H.E. Joaquim A. Chissano, former President of the Republic of Mozambique, and SADC Mediator on Madagascar. 6. Also in attendance at the Summit was the Right Hon. Morgan Tsvangirai, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe and Hon. Prof. Welshman Ncube, representing MDC-T,MDC-N political parties respectively.
7. Summit considered reports on the prevailing political and security situation in Madagascar and Zimbabwe.
8. On Madagascar, Summit noted the outcome of the meeting that took place on 6 and 7June, 2011 in Gaborone, Republic of Botswana, convened by the SADC Chairperson, H.E Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia and H.E. Rupiah Bwezani Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia and Chairperson of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, and H.E Joaquim Chissano, former President of the Republic of Mozambique and the SADC Mediator on the Madagascar crisis, as mandated by the ExtraordinarySummit of SADC Heads of State and Government at its meeting held in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia, 20 May, 2011.
9. Summit also noted that the Gaborone meeting was attended by eleven (11)political stakeholders from Madagascar, namely: AREMA; ESCOPOL; Les AutresSensibilités; HPM; MDM; Mouvance Ratsiraka; Mouvance Ravalomanana;Mouvance Zafy; TGV; UAMAD/MONIMA and UDR-C.
10. Summit commended the SADC Chairperson, the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation for convening the meeting with the Malagasy stakeholders.
11. Summit also commended the people and Government of the Republic of Botswana for hosting the meeting.
12. Summit noted that the return of that country to constitutional normalcy is a matter of urgency.
13. Summit also noted that eight out of eleven Malagasy Political Stakeholders havealready initialled the Roadmap that is intended to return the country to constitutional normalcy.
14. Summit endorsed the Roadmap to bring Madagascar into constitutional normalcypresented by the SADC Mediator on Madagascar after effecting necessaryamendments.
15. Summit urged the leaders of the Mouvances Ratsiraka, Ravalomanana and Zafyto initial the Roadmap expeditiously as soon as the necessary amendments are effected.
16. Summit also urged the High Transition Authority (HTA) to allow all Malagasypeople in exile for political reasons, to be allowed to return to the countryunconditionally including Mr. Marc Ravalomanana.
17. Summit further urged the HTA to urgently develop and enact all outstanding Legal Instruments to ensure the political freedom of all Malagasy in the inclusive process leading to free, fair, and credible elections.
18. Summit commended the Malagasy Political Stakeholders for their commitment to dialogue and finding an inclusive solution and urged them to remain focused on the implementation of the agreed Roadmap in order to urgently fulfil the aspirations of the Malagasy people for peace, stability and socio-economicdevelopment.
19. Summit also commended H.E. Joachim Chissano, former President of Mozambique for his tireless efforts in bringing together the Malagasystakeholders in the search of lasting solution for the current crisis in Madagascar.
20. Summit urged the Organ Troika to remain actively seized of the political situation in Madagascar.
21. On Zimbabwe, Summit noted the report of H.E. Jacob G. Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa and SADC Facilitator on Zimbabwe, on the progressmade in the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in Zimbabwe noting consultations held with the Stakeholders in Zimbabwe on the implementation of the outstanding issues on the GPA.
22. Summit noted the decisions of the Organ Troika Summit held in Livingstone, Zambia in March 2011.
23. Summit mandated the Organ Troika to continue to assist Zimbabwe in the full implementation of the GPA.
24. Summit urged the Organ Troika to appoint their representatives as soon as possible to participate in the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC).
25. Summit mandated the Secretariat to mobilise resources for JOMIC for it todischarge its functions.
26. Summit encouraged the parties to the GPA to move faster in the implementation of the GPA and create a conducive environment to the holding of elections that will be free and fair, under conditions of a level political field.
27. Summit urged the parties to the GPA to finalise the Roadmap with time lines as a matter of urgency.
28. Summit commended H.E. Jacob G. Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, and the Facilitator for the Zimbabwe Political Dialogue for his efforts towards the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement.
29. Summit urged the Organ Troika to remain seized with the implementation of the Global Political Agreement in Zimbabwe.
30. Summit recalled its decision taken during the Extraordinary Summit in Windhoek, Namibia in August r 2010, mandating the Chairperson of SADC, the Chairperson of the Organ, SADC Facilitator for the Zimbabwe Political Dialogue assisted bythe Secretariat to undertake the mission to the United Kingdom, United States ofAmerica and the European Union.
31. Summit received a Report on the mission and noted its recommendations. 32 Summit committed to continue dialogue with the western powers on the removal of sanction against Zimbabwe.
33. Summit expressed heartfelt condolences to the Government and the People ofSouth Africa for the passing of Mrs Albertina Sisulu who was laid to rest on 11 June 2011.
34. The Summit expressed its appreciation to the Government and People of the Republic of South Africa for the warm hospitality extended to all delegates and facilities placed at their disposal that made this Summit a success.

SANDTON,
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
JUNE 12, 2011